Birthday's in the Bathroom
by Mahi-Mahi
Summary: [AU] It's Ino's birthday and she's uspset because nobody could remember and she's all alone. But, her teacher remembers. Lemonade.


_**Birthday's in the Bathroom**_

.

.

Yamanaka, Ino stabbed her burnt slice of cake over and over. She had baked it for herself. For her birthday. And she hadn't just burnt it...she had incinerated the darn thing. It wasn't her fault! The stove was broke...kinda.

She sighed and shoved the plastic plate aside. It was exactly five thirty-six p.m. and not a single person had given her a present, asked how it felt to be a year older, or even called to simply tell her happy birthday, not even her parents. Well, they _were_ always busy. Maybe they haven't had the chance to take time and call...

Nonsense. Honestly, how many minutes would it consume to call your daughter and say: '_We remembered and we love you, darling!_ _Hope you got the money we wired you._'

But they didn't and they probably wouldn't this late.

She tossed her long, blonde hair over her shoulder as she pressed her cheek against the cold, wooden table with her arms sprawled lazily out on the flat piece of furniture, staring at the clock and waiting for the remaining smoke from the stove to vent out of the kitchen window.

Technically that was the second cake she had killed. The first victim was batter mix that turned out looking like watery syrup. While the second was a little more consistent in its texture, surely it was the _stove_ that murdered it. Yeah...the stove.

She had even made herself a card while waiting for the cake to finish frying.

It read:

_Happy eighteenth birthday, Ino! I hope you have a wonderful day filled with joy and happiness!_

_Love, Ino_

_P.S. _

_Enjoy the cake I burnt to a crisp for you! _

Then she drew a picture of a pretty little cake and balloons on the front of the folded over, cheap paper. Too bad her cake didn't turn out that pretty and nice when she baked it. Ahem...burnt it.

She was alone on a very important day. Her pink headed roommate was hanging out with some blonde boy she met at the ramen shop(ramen, the cheap food they now lived off of thanks to their college budget.) Which irked her in a way, Sakura said he was annoying and loud and obnoxious. And if Sakura didn't like someone, she didn't hang with them. But, she had also said he was friends with the all too popular, soccer playing Uchiha heartthrob. He_ was_ a handsome guy, they had both known him since they were but toddlers. Around six or seven, she supposed. Crushing on him and following his lead like a couple of lost pups. But, good looks didn't always make up for lack of a fun personality, especially when said person has _no_ personality. It was easy to look back on the times they used to fight over him.

'_I hate you! Sasuke-kun is __my__ boyfriend!_'

'_No, Sasuke-kun likes me. He thinks you're stoopid and oogliy and has __cooties__!_'

The only thing she could say to that was: '_cute_' and then roll her eyes. At least, that's what she'd think if she saw a couple of little girls fighting like that today. Bordering on adorable, except for some sick and sad cases where those girls were actually her age, but adorable none the less where concerning young children.

Then they grew up and moved on. Except Sakura, though she could sit for hours and preach on and on about how she didn't need a 'pimp' like him in her life. And the next second she'd be drooling at his feet like a starved cat with those big, green eyes. Willing to do his bidding. Again, Ino rolled her eyes.

And her two best friends, which should be here trying to cheer her up, were attempting to pull an all nighter for an upcoming exam in their English Comp. 105 class. Ino laughed, as if _they'd_ be able to get through a _entire_ night of studying. If she called them at this very moment, they'd be playing the newest release from SquareInex and sucking on a can of beer, which she had told them to get rid of thousands of times. The dorms were cracking down on drugs this semester and they _weren't_ going easy on the rule breakers this time around. Penalty equaled possible expulsion.

And those two morons had the audacity to tell her, _'Well, Ino, we'll stop drinking in our dorm only if you let us drink at your place._ _You know, where we won't get caught._' The nerve! This was _her_ and _Sakura's_ apartment! No party boys allowed! God only knew what kind of women and men they'd start dragging in here then, staining the carpet with alcohol and cheeto residue.

Ino looked at her card again, then back to the clock. When the hands finally struck six, she was stung with an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Today, on her birthday, nobody could seem to remember Yamanaka, Ino.

That's it...she was breaking out the bottle.

So, clad in only her dark, bikini underwear and a braless, black, too tight spaghetti strap that left little to the imagination, she stomped over to the refrigerator, jerked open the door and pulled out her bottle of apple cider that vaguely looked like a cheap container of wine. Proceeding to slam the heavy door shut.

She scuffed her bare feet all the way to her carpeted, small living room and turned on the stereo to the max, selecting the most down trodden songs within her cd collection. She had them all; sad songs, depressing songs, love songs, break up songs, I hate you songs...and right now she used them to their fullest extent.

Ino walked to the center of her room, pushed the center piece coffee table aside with some great effort and lay down on the floor, staring at the white ceiling. Fondling her 'bottle-that-looked-like-wine' to her side. And cried.

She cried, and whined and sighed and grieved. Then she sulked and baked in her lameness and gloomed. Life was terrible! Her parents didn't love her anymore...she was too ugly, or too fat. Her hair dresser didn't get the highlights right the last time she went to tone up the color. Classes were too hard and her grades weren't good enough. The oil in her car needed changed and her tires rotated. She was eighteen and had only kissed Shikamaru on the lips, while other girls her age had done the 'nasty' twenty times over with ten different guys. Her nail was broken and she was almost out of her aquamarine blue nail polish that she had to order out of a magazine. She was out of tampons and her make-up needed to be updated. She had gained two pounds in the past five days. Sakura still seemed to love Sasuke while Ino was left in the dust, was that okay? Was she still supposed to love him?(she noted: big quotes around the word _love_) That she didn't like him anymore, she hadn't liked him since she was sixteen when she saw him kissing an older girl. Her two best friends were _boys_! Not girls. She had missed the newest episode of her favorite television show. And this song was really getting depressing...and...oh dear god...she had missed her tai-chi class!

Dammit!

She popped the top on her 'wine' and took a swig and then another just because it tasted so sweet.

Her sensei would be disappointed that she skipped(missed) the class and that called for even more tears. She looked up to him like none other. And he was, perhaps, the one person she had ever adored more than her father...even possibly more than she had Sasuke during her crushing days(which was quite a feat.)

Ino hadn't meant to skip, she was just so sulky that she wasn't thinking straight. She just wanted to go home and be lazy and mope around. Her parents had encouraged her to take the proffered class from the university when she had assigned her agenda, to be added onto the class roster. Said it would calm her young, unruly nerves...She _wasn't_ unruly!

And, on to top it all off, her parents previously knew the instructor, as did she. He was...an old friend of the family, usually only seeing him every other week. Now, she saw him even more since she had moved to the campus, she would see him four days a week in class and then at home on the weekends when he would play a game of cards with her father before going trolluping around town with Kakashi and his other friends. He taught other, more strenuous, activities outside of the relaxing form known as tai-chi. Such as judo and kung-fu classes on campus.(or whatever it was called that he said he practiced, she didn't particularly care) _That's_ what her parents originally wanted. They wanted her to learn self-defense for those 'just in case' times. But, Ino was too lazy for all that. She liked to spend time on her hair and go shopping by herself so nobody could slow down her fast pace, shopper girl ways.

She didn't need to take all those extra classes._ Besides_, that's what they invented pepper spray for. _Duh..._ She let out a sigh.

Ino rolled onto her stomach, still keeping a death grip on her 'wine' until she was in the most awkward butt up position she could twist her body into. Her contorted, grieving face smooshed to the carpeting, wetting the material with her crocodile tears.

She needed to buy a dog to cheer her up, to make her feel better. Nobody else seemed to be volunteering for that job.

Job. That reminded her, she had to go back to work on Tuesday at her mother's flower shop. She didn't want to go to work, quite frankly, she wanted to stay here for the rest of the week and pout like a big baby.

Ino slowly stilled her sobs when she thought she heard a clanging over the loud music. She couldn't quite tell what it was. Could have been the neighbors, maybe they wanted to complain about her music. Well...screw them! She could listen to whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and however loud she pleased. Hell, they threw parties every 'Thirsty Thursday' night and disturbed her sleep at one in the morning. So, a little depressing music wasn't going to kill them at six o'clock in the afternoon.

So, she went about her sulking...where was she?

...she weighed too much, her boobs were too small and her butt was too big. She wished she would have bought the pink shoes last night instead of the white. Her goldfish just died two nights ago. Now she wanted a puppy. She had _missed sensei's _tai-chi class! She had a sore on her pinky finger...and dammit! They were interrupting her brooding again.

Ino sat up on her haunches and stared at the door only ten or twelve feet puts a halt on her cry fest and lives to see another day.

'Wine' bottle in hand, she stormed over to the door and closed one cornflower blue eye as the other squinted ridiculously narrow to look through her peep window. It was _gar! _time!

"Asuma-sensei!" She gasped.

As if uttering his name had summoned his attention, the man that was previously staring across the street into the laundry mat turned to the door. "Ino, that you?" He must have heard her.

'_Ahck! Shit. Fiddlesticks! Pooh!_' What was he doing here? She took a step back, then turned around, just ignore him and he'll go away. Be quiet and he won't hear you...real logical considering the 'I'm Mr. Lonely' and 'All by myself' music booming from her speakers at the moment. Either way, she didn't want to see anyone right now. Then she paused, and looked back at the door over her shoulder and groaned with a frown...he looked so cute out there.

"Ino, I can hear you in there." Okay, that was more an aggravated sigh than something cute.

"Dah...uh...I'm busy!" Oh, _great_. So smooth, sometimes she just had a _way _with words.

"No you're not. Open the door."

"If this is about class, then I forgot...I'll bring in a doctors excuse tomorrow..."

"What? I can't hear you...there seems to be a _door_ between us."

She remained silent.

"Fine, I'm coming in." She saw the door nob turn and heard the click of metal as it unlatched. Gah! He was her teacher, no matter how well he knew her dad, he couldn't do that! Waltz in here like...like...like some person waltzing in here off the street!

"No!" She lunged forward and slammed the door back shut, almost snapping off his fingers. "I...uh...just wait a few moments! I'll be with you in a minute, sensei!" Ino dropped her 'wine' bottle and locked the door, trying to sound as chipper as possible.

She quickly turned on her heels and ran through the small apartment, tripping over her out of place coffee table and turning off the loud music of her radio. Ino opened her closet and grabbed the first pair of pants she could find, a pair of baby pink khaki's that were two sizes too big and didn't seem to jive with her black panties.

Rummaging through her bathroom closet, she snatched a rag, moistened it down and wiped the black mascara that had seeped from her eyes to her cheeks. Smoothing down her long, frazzled hair as much as possible without the aid of a brush and checking her teeth in the mirror.

She was fixed within five minutes when she ran back to the front door, snapped open the lock and swung the flat wood open as a pair of baby blues met earthy brown.

"Asuma-sensei!" She practically panted after dashing to the door. "Why didn't you say you were coming over?" She smiled, trying to ignore just how handsome he was in his black sweater and dark green jacket. His hair almost, but not quite, messy.

Asuma let his eyes fall to the status of her apartment behind her, quirky and out of order, which was not unlike Ino. But, the puffiness under her eyes was. "Sarutobi," He stated. "_Sarutobi_-sensei." He was correcting her.

"Sorry." She shrugged. "Please, come inside. I apologize for the mess, I didn't know anyone would be coming over tonight, Sakura usually keeps the place tidy, but she's not here." Ino opened the door wider and stepped back, allowing him room to enter. Inhaling as he seemed to carry the scent of the crisp autumn breeze inside her apartment. And just the faintest hint of his brand of cigarette smoke.

He very nearly tripped over the bottle she had thrown to the floor in her fit of urgency. "What the–" He frowned, bent down and picked up the bottle and read the label. Asuma brought the opening to his nose and sniffed at the contents. "Is this apple juice?" He asked whilst tilting his eyebrow. And she frowned, knowing that he was laughing at her within his head.

"Maybe." She huffed, ripping the 'wine' from his grasp and gestured for him to follow her into the newly aerated kitchen. "Would you like some tea? Coffee? Water?" She asked.

"Apple Juice?" He smirked. She glared.

"No," She opened a cabinet to pull out two glasses. "_That_ stuff's only for special occasions." She said haughtily, but couldn't help looking back at him and smiling. Chestnut hair, dark eyes, tan, and the best body she had ever seen on a man his age.

"Like?" He asked, shrugging out of his fall jacket.

"Oh, the usual." Ino place the cups on the table and went back to the refrigerator to retrieve a beverage. "Weddings, funerals, anniversaries, holiday's–" She grabbed the iced tea she had made earlier in the day during her lunch hour and took it to the table.

"Birthdays?" He smiled as she almost spilt the tea she was pouring as she looked up at him. If he could have had a camera to capture the look of complete surprise on her face. Her mouth slightly ajar and her big eyes studying him, scrutinizing him to see if he were joking or serious or simply making fun of her lonely predicament.

"Uh, well...perhaps." She shrugged. "Those are usually overrated, though." Blondy went back to serving the drinks. No way _he_ remembered. Nobody else did.

"Oh?" Asuma took the tea she offered him. "I thought birthdays were usually important enough for parties and parcels."

"Maybe for some," She quickly retorted, ready to defend her honor. "But, _I_ would never expect something like that for myself. Things that silly are for little kids." Liar, liar pants on fire.

"Hm," He scratched that well trimmed beard. "So, you're too old for presents?"

"Absolutely." She nodded definitely...then, she peeked and eye open and cast him a sideways glance. "Why?" She drawled it out skeptically.

"No reason," He gave her a 'too bad' look. As if she had just missed out on something grand. "You're too old anyways."

"Asumaaaa-senseeeeiii..." Her shoulders slumped. "What is it?" Then she stuck out her lower lip and pouted. The 'lip' that usually worked with all the boys.

Seemed it worked on the men too.

"Well," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box wrapped with a red, satin ribbon. He leaned forward, placed his elbow in the table and looked at the box. "Now I don't know what to do with this thing...probably just take it back for a refund. I could get a couple twenty four pack cartons out of it..."

"Phoowy," Ino leaned forward. "Don't be so discreet, sensei." She quickly snatched the unwanted box from his hands, trying to hide her blush and sound as unaffected by his generosity as possible.

Asuma pressed his lips into a line as he tried not to laugh at watching her practically destroy the little box to reach the contents.

He remembered her birthday. Always had and always ignored it. But, then he heard from one of Kakashi's students, Ino's roommate, that she was alone and had a nine out of ten chance that she was balling her pretty blue eyes out, he could have shrugged it off. She was just a student. He would have shrugged it off. But, she was _Yamanaka's_ daughter and thus being Yamanaka's daughter and his student...obligated him.

No, obligated was the wrong word. He would have came anyways. She had been his pupil for quite some time now, long enough to develop a strong bond. He wasn't here as a favor for her father, or because he felt sorry for his student.

He was here for a friend.

"Asuma-sensei..." She took in a quick breath when she saw its contents, after she was done committing genocide on box, at least the ribbon was sparred..

Ino held the delicate, silver chain between her index and thumb as she lifted the necklace from the box. A tiny thing with the diamond studded kanji for the word 'strong' as a charm. Her face and expression was blank for a minute as she studied the beautiful pendant dangling from her nails. The tell tell signs of watery eyes coming on.

And then she started to ball.

Huge, body wrenching, sobs.

_He_ remembered. And_ he_ brought her a gift. And it was absolutely _gorgeous_!

"Christ, Ino," He lifted a brow. "I know I'm not great at picking out gifts–"

"_No!_" She exclaimed and looked up at him with something sparking in her eyes. "I adore it!" Her eyes locked with his, and suddenly she was overcome with the urge to embrace him. She resisted, it would have made him uncomfortable.

"It must have cost you a fortune..." She breathed out.

"Ino... you're really not supposed to pry about the price of a gift." He reminded her.

"I know..." She said slowly. "But, it's just so...expensive looking." Her fingers played with the kanji.

"I'm not exactly in poverty."

Then she gave him a dour look. "I know, sensei. But, still, you shouldn't have." She gave a secret little smile thinking in her head that she was grateful anyways and that, yes, he should have. She liked to be spoiled by him.

And then that smile turned to a grin. "Would you?" She held it out to him and gave a little shrug of one of her shoulders to indicate what she had meant. When he took the jewelry from her and told her to come near, she clapped her hands in triumph and practically bobbed out of her chair as she hurried around the table.

Ino turned her back to him as she got down on her knees in front of his seat. He watched as she slipped a hand to her nape and lifted her glossy hair from her back.

His elbows were on each of his knees, one end of the necklace in each hand, ready to clasp them back together when the time was right.

When Ino had a good grip on her hair and her neck was fully exposed, she leaned back until her shoulder blades rested on his knee caps. Then, she put a nail in her mouth and chewed on it as though she were nervous and looked back at him-her azure gaze staring up into his eyes when she said, "Okay."

Asuma leaned forward and placing both ends of the necklace in one hand momentarily, slipped his hands around her neck. And, as his fingers grabbed the clasping end from the hand, she took a deep breath and expanded her lungs. Deep enough to allow his palm to flutter over her upper breast, if he hadn't know better, he would have thought she had done that on purpose.

"I'm so glad you remembered my birthday, Asuma-sensei." She smiled back to him as he clipped the two ends together at the bottom of her pale neck. "Why didn't you forget it like everyone else?"

"Well," He mumbled, suppressing a laugh. "Do you remember the day you turned five?"

"How could I forget?" Ino swivelled on her heels, planted her elbows on his thighs and rested her chin in her hands as she stared up at him.

"I don't think anyone could forget a day like that." He watched the kanji dangling from her neck, shimmering in the light. "You're parents left me in charge of you when they had to go to the store to pick up your cake, not five minutes after they left the house, you had jumped off the kitchen table. Proclaiming you were Sailor Moon and you could fly if you flapped your arms '_real fast_' if I remember your words correctly." He leaned back in his chair. "I'll never forget the face you made as you tried not to cry in front of me–"

"And you nearly laughed, until you realized I had a broken arm." She gave him a cocky smile. "You rushed me to the hospital so fast you almost got a speeding ticket."

"There, you see now, every October 5 I think of you and that particular incident."

Ino pouted. "Then why didn't you ever call on those days?"

He shrugged carelessly. "You had friends, I guess."

"And your reason now?" She pried. "You couldn't have magically known I was all by myself on this particular birthday." She gave him a quizzical eyebrow lift.

"I have my ways." He dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a pack of reds.

"Like..."

"Like your roommate."

Ino let out a plain sigh. "And here I just thought I was special." Her eyes rolled and she grabbed his pack of cigarettes-shoving them back into the pocket of his jacket that was hanging on his chair. "And no smoking in here." She gave him the wag of the finger.

"Tell that to the charcoal cake sitting on your counter." That comment was going to get him punched...

"Sensei–!" Here comes the horns.

"So," He stopped her before it was too late. "This too 'silly' for you?" He asked as he reached down and fingered the tiny, kanji ornament. She gave an exaggerated, exasperated little breath.

"I suppose I can make and exception." Why was her heart beating so fast?

She leaned over the corner of the table and grabbed the unmassacred red ribbon laying amongst the pile of debris, slipping it under the weight of her hair and tying her blonde locks into a simple, high ponytail, fixing the red material into a bow. "Thank you, again, sensei."

He chuckled a little as he watched her. "I couldn't let a Yamanaka girl sit here alone on her birthday, anyways."

"Sure," She said in a tone that indicated she didn't believe him before rolling her eyes and tapped his thigh as she stood, using his knee and the table for leverage. "You know you only came over here because you wanted to see my _beautiful_ face." Ino laughed and resumed her previous seat.

No reply.

"Asuma-sensei–!"

"Of course, Ino..." He absentmindedly padded down the front of his shirt in search of his pack of reds. Where were they? Oh yeah...she put them up. Dammit, he forgot already...but, he sure could use–

"You know, I think there's still some lawn furniture sitting out on the lanai. We could go sit out there?" She suggested, knowing what he was thinking. She had known him long enough to recognize that look on his face...the nicotine deprived look.

"No, that's alright, Ino." He ran a hand through his hair just to give him something to do as he leaned further back. "How about we get you out of the house and go find something to eat?"

Her face almost lit up. "That would be great, except there's no great places to eat around here...and, I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion." She gestured to her attire with both hands.

"How about take out?" He supplied another option.

"Sounds good to me." She paused, took a sip of her tea and continued. "There's a fast food place just down the street, we can bring it back here. Um, do you mind walking? I need to go to the corner drug store and pick up some stuff, anyways, so it'd be a good chance to get some fresh air."

"Drug store? What do you need from there, condoms?" He laughed at his joke that she didn't seem to find as amusing.

Ino tossed up her nose dramatically. She had never taken him for a dirty minded man, unlike his friend Hatake, Kakashi.

"For your information, maybe I am."

"Really?" He said, intrigued. Dammit, she had only meant that reply as another joke...

Ino suddenly felt as though her mouth had acted impulsively and she was digging a ditch she couldn't clime back out of. "Sure, I go there all the time." She swallowed. She had only been trying to string the joke along, but he seemed to be taking it more seriously...or maybe he was just jerking _her_ chain. Probably, he always did like to tease her.

"And you're dragging me along, because?" His look could be called amused.

"You don't have–"

"No, no. I'll tag along, I might actually learn something."

"...?" She didn't take the time to question it. Rather, walked to the counter and took the phonebook from the drawer.

"Can we just drop it?" She flipped through the pages. "So, what do you want me to order for you?"

"How about a hamburger, loaded with all the _condiments_..."

"Asuma-sensei!"

.

.

.

Asuma lit a cigarette as they walked down the cracked pavement. Taking in a deep breath of the gratifying tobacco. They had left as soon as she was done placing their orders, put on their jackets and abandoned the apartment for the road. It was a fairly busy part of town, lots of small businesses on the roadside, heavy traffic and the drug store was only five blocks down from her place. The restaurant, seven blocks.

"You really should quit those." She suggested as they crossed a street with her purse under her arm. "They should be called sticks of doom..."

"I'll quit when I die." He let the papery roll hang loosely from his lips.

"Which, I'm afraid, won't be too far away if you keep smoking those." Ino inhaled a few whiffs of the smoke, secretly enjoying the scent she had always associated with him.

"I'm as healthy as a horse." Asuma exhaled a large puff of the carbon monoxide.

"And about as ugly as one, too." She poked his arm teasingly. Suddenly shivering at a cool autumn breeze as she wrapped her black jacket, tinged with white fur on the edges, tighter around her body. "So, how's that Kurenai lady?" Ino asked as he held the door of the small corner store open for her, one of his hands still in his pocket.

He shrugged. "Haven't heard from her in the past three months."

"Three!" Her eyes widened. "Isn't that a long time? Like, are you guys finally through?" Then she paused. "Woah, wait, is it _you_ haven't heard from her...or _she_ hasn't heard from you?"

Asuma shook his head. "I can't tell anymore. It's difficult to explain..." He threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stepped it out with his heel before he entered. "We're more or less close friends that simply understand each other. She's there. And I'm there...so we're just like–"

"Sea turtles." Ino stated matter-of-factly as she grabbed a small, dark blue hand basket with yellow handles for her groceries.

"Turtles?"

"Yeah...you know. Sea turtles live-_belong_-in the sea. But, once a year they return to the same beaches to lay their eggs. Then go back to the sea and about their own business."

"...if that's the way you want to phrase it. I suppose it's a reasonable metaphor." He scratched his chin as he ran that through his head once again-just to make sure he understood it correctly.

"You just need a change in routine, she's become a 'habit' for you rather than a real relationship. She's easy, and simple and not out of your way. It's more like a custom for you than something emotional."

"Thank you, Dr. Yamanaka."

"Your welcome, sensei!" She smiled and pulled a bar of soap off the shelves to throw into her basket. "How about we make a bet?" Ino took two steps over and snatched her favorite scented shampoo and conditioner, inspecting the price before tossing them in amongst her other items.

"Conditions?"

"You forget about Kurenai," She looked at him from the corner of her eye and smirked. "And I forget about Sasuke."

"You told me you were already over him, remember, you were seventeen and called to tell me you saw him kissing some '_skank hoe_' as you so blatantly put it. You were crying so hard you could barely speak."

"True, and I was sixteen." Ino made a b-turn for aisle nine, makeup central, and got engrossed for a few minutes picking out her shades and brands of eyeshadow. As well as finding a new bottle of foundation and a compact blush aplicator. "But, that makes it all the more easier for me to win the bet if I've already forgot about him." She turned to wink at him over her shoulder after she had collected her merchandise, but he wasn't there. "Sensei?" Her voice called out to him as her eyes glance around her aisle. "Hello?" The plain, boring piano music of the store filled the empty rows of eyeliners, nail polish and vast other varieties of 'face paint.'

She growled as she walked up and down every row in the store to search for him.

When she found him, he was standing carelessly against a shelf. Flipping through the pages of a car magazine in the book aisle.

"Get lost?" She asked as she walked up to him, ripped the paper from his fingers and placed it back on the rack.

"No," He straightened and took the heavy basket from her arm. "I got sidetracked finding more interesting things."

"Honestly, sensei," She turned from him and began walking to the register. "What could be more interesting the me?"

Asuma smirked. Haughty little thing, wasn't she?

He shook his head. Quick witted, spitfire...just like her mother and father.

"Are you ready?" Ino called out over her shoulder. And, as he looked down into her basket filled with girly items, he suddenly saw an easy chance to fluster her.

"Yeah, but–" He waited for her to look back. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Huh? I am?" She zipped back to rummage through her items. "I don't think so..."

"I thought you came here to get–"

"Oh," Her cheeks turned red. "Would you grow up!" She snapped.

After Ino had payed for her groceries, Asuma carried her two, white plastic bags. They walked the extra block to the restaurant and picked up the food waiting on them, talking the entire way there and back.

"Lets take a detour home, sensei." Ino said with two small paper bags containing their dinner in her hands.

"Detour?"

"Yeah, the river is just a few blocks out of the way, it's a great place to watch the sun set." She pointed in said direction. "It's not far, and there's a bridge we can sit on."

"I don't know," He looked at this watch. "It's getting late and the food will get cold..."

"It won't take long. Come on, it's getting dark and the sun will be gone before we get there if we don't hurry."

"Exactly, the crime rate around here isn't necessarily low, Ino."

"So?" She took his arm and jerked him in the desired direction. "You can beat anyone up that tries to rob us."

"Ino, that's not–"

"What?" She turned to him. "Don't tell me you can't fight? Isn't that why you teach all those classes?"

He shook his head. "Ino, it's barely forty nine decrees outside and the warmest thing you have on is your coat."

She looked down at her clothes. Thin khaki's, a braless spaghetti strap hidden under her jacket and the flip flops(the first thing her eyes had landed on by the door) she had quickly stepped into on the way out of her place.

"Your toes are turning blue." He pointed out.

"We won't stay for long, just until the sun goes down..." She tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. "Please..." She pouted her lips again. And she noticed he tried to avert his eyes away from hers.

"If you get a cold, it's not my fault."

Ino smiled and started dragging him to the decidedly romantic spot she had picked out.

"I thought you said it wasn't out of the way?" He asked as they finally arrived, the tall street lights illuminating the sidewalks.

"It wasn't."

"Ino, we're three miles from where we started...the sun has already set, the temperature has dropped and it's late." He sighed, a small puff of fog coming from his warm breath.

"Oh, come one." She pulled him onto the bridge. "Stop being a grumpy old man, it's a beautiful, starry, clear night and you should enjoy it. Besides, I can't enjoy it with you complaining the entire time."

It was quiet out, a part of town that was more solitary and refined. There were a few cars driving from the street they had just came. Trees covered with the brown, red, orange and yellow leafs that came with the season. A few gated fences. Plain and simple. Not too much pavement and not too much shrubbery. The bridge was made of concrete, wide enough for two way traffic, but nothing big, the railing only reached his mid-waist. Cute and quaint kind of place. A wide sidewalk on the left and right for pedestrians to pass over the river and tall lanterns that lit the night.

"I've always wanted to come here." She said as she stared at the river that almost looked black in the cover of night. The reflections of the street lamps hitting the water like lightening bugs dancing with the ripples of the steady flow of the water, separated two halves of the large town.

"So, you've never been here?" He asked as he leaned against the fat, gothic designed concrete railing. Pulling out another cigarette and lighting it.

"Nope, not outside of driving by it now and then." Ino came to his side, put her hands on the edge of the bridge and hoisted herself up to sit on the thick, cold, grey rail.

"Why's that?" He put the lighter back in his pocket.

She shrugged. "I guess I never had anyone to share it with. You know, sometimes things are better when you have someone to remember the moment together."

"It is a nice place." He admitted. "A little out of the way," He glanced at her with a look of annoyance and she gave him a cheeky smile.

"I think it was worth it though." She looked up at the sky. "Although you can't see the stars perfectly from here, it's still better than the rooftop at my place. There's just too many lights around there to see the sky through all the smog. But, here, at least I can see some of them." She subconsciously wrapped her jacket tighter in the breeze. "Aren't they beautiful?" Ino almost smacked herself after that comment, she was sounding all mooshy and soft. Not an attitude she aimed for often.

He shrugged. He didn't much care for staring at immobile and inanimate things for a long period of time. "Yeah." He exhaled his smoke and wondered whether or not he should pull the hamburger out of that bag she had set to her left and start eating.

"Aren't you cold yet?" He glanced over, her shoulders were slightly shaking and there were tell tell goose bumps on her skin.

"Me?" She put a hand on her chest. "Hah, I could walk through the arctic in a bathing suit." Her body betrayed her as she shivered.

Asuma closed his eyes and shook his head. "I told you you'd freeze." He put his cigarette between his thumb and index and threw it to the ground. "Here," Ino took in a quick breath when he put an arm around her to pull her down from her perch and brought her body close to his, chest to chest, and wrapped both arms around her shoulders. Making sure she was in the warmth of his heavy jacket.

"Oh...thank you, sensei." She said quietly and lowered her face into the material of his cloths so he couldn't see her blush. "I guess I should have worn something a little more warm." Dammit, why did she sound so shy? She wasn't a shy person, but pressed this close to him made her feel all flustered.

He didn't say anything as she clung to his jacket with her fingers and snuggled closer, soaking in his heat. Holding onto him like he was her last match on a winter's night. Listening to the calming flow of the river.

"I think our food will be cold by the time we get home." She pried her cheek away from his chest and looked up to him. Enjoying the feel of his large arms around her.

"It'll be worse than cold, it's probably stale by now." He studied her round face, youthful and blushing.

She giggled. "I know, I bet the lettuce in my salad is wilting as we speak."

But, when she was done laughing and she looked at his face again, he wasn't looking into her eyes. He was staring at her lips, pink and smiling and quivering just a little from the cold, or was it from how close they were pressed together? And she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat and then thumping faster than she could control.

It looked like Asuma-sensei was going to kiss her. And, for some reason, she wanted to jump for joy at that prospect.

"Sensei?" She searched his face, the hard set lines of his mouth. The look of contemplation in his dark eyes.

"I–" He cut himself off as he looked away from her lips and found her eyes. He looked troubled, and confused. As if he were thinking thoughts he shouldn't have been thinking. "I think it's time to go. I should call a cab, it's too cold for you to walk home."

"No, it's alright." Oh, god...was she blushing again? And she'd been giggling just a moment ago, too. Oh, how mortifying. "I'll be fine. Really."

"Are you sure?" He asked as she pulled away and took the small bags of their stale food off the railing.

"Yeah," She turned and waited for him to join her. "We should go now before it gets any later." He fell in step beside her, the two plastic bags containing her groceries in one hand and her clinging to his other arm.

And they walked back in silence.

.

.

.

"Ugh!" Ino groaned as she unlocked her door and stepped into her warm apartment. "I should have been born in the summer!" She threw the food on the counter and immediately went to retrieve a pair of socks and leg warmer's from her room as he made himself at home on her couch. Turning on the TV and tuning into the ESPN sports channel.

"I'm going to try and salvage my salad," She reemerged with thick black socks and white mid calve leg warmer's on her feet. "Do you want me to reheat yours?" She asked as she flipped on the light of the kitchen.

"As long as the bun isn't soggy." He pulled out a cigarette.

"And no smoking in here!" She called from the other room like she had x ray vision. He growled as he stuffed the paper roll back into its box.

"Where's your roommate?" He asked. Remembering she had said the pink headed girl wasn't going to be here tonight.

"She went out with some friends to watch Sasuke play soccer, I think one of them was that new transfer student, Uzumaki Naruto. And then she's going to the victorious after party that's sure to follow. The team with Uchiha always wins."

"Uzumaki? The loud, blonde idiot from Osaka that's in Kakashi's class?"

"The very one." She opened her salad and set it on the table, getting out two fresh glasses to pour more tea.

"I'm a little surprised, she usually doesn't go to parties when she should be studying. She's taking one of her big tests tomorrow for her R.N. class. But, then again, she'll go along with anything that has to do with Sasuke."

"And you didn't go, because?" He stared at the television screen, half listening to her and half watching the baseball game in its first half time.

"I hate soccer." The microwave beeped and she sorted through the mess that was her silverware drawer(which Sakura had been nagging at her heels to put into order) as she looked for a fork to eat her salad with.

Ino heard the cheering of the crowd as the home team scored a home run and looked to the living room. Distracted, she reached for the fork sitting in the middle of the drawer, but instead, her hand landed on the sharp end of a serrated culinary knife. Slicing the sensitive skin of her palm.

"Ouch!" She cried out as she felt it cut through her flesh. She lifted her hand and turned it to looked at her palm, already soaked with blood. And suddenly, she felt nauseous at the sight. All red and liquidy and the ugly cut that violated her hand. Her stomach was in her throat and her eyes widened in panic. What if she bled to death! She didn't want to die...

"Uh...sensei..." She walked to the edge of her carpet, stopping so she didn't drip on the material, feeling faint and queasy. "I think I'm going to pass out." He looked up to her, her face was pale and her eyes withdrawn, she never could stand the sight of blood.

"Woah," He immediately stood and rushed to her side. "Take it easy, girl." Asuma's hand slid around her waist as she sagged to the wall. "What happened?" He glanced and the hand she was holding by the wrist.

"I..." Her breathing picked up, feeling ridiculous over the fact that she had to get all worked up over some blood. But, dammit, it hurt like a bitch! "I cut my hand on a knife." Her chest felt hot and heavy, wide eyes looking up at him in terror. He would have laughed at her overreaction if she weren't so scared.

"Alright," He slipped his hand lower on her waist as he bent down to pick her up, slipping his other hand behing the crook of her knees. "Just calm down and take a deep breath, Ino. We'll get it cleaned up and you'll be fine." He easily hoisted her into his arms, sounding all calm and collected while she was having a mental melt down.

"I don't want blood on my carpet." She mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Don't worry about the carpet." He took her to the bathroom and set her down in front of the sink, turned on the cold water and stuck her hand under the faucet. When he turned to look for a rag in her closet, she was still trying to keep the contents of her stomach down.

Staring at the running water washing away all that blood from her cut wasn't helping. Ino quickly looked away to stare at anything but her hand. The floor, the ceiling, the tub, the towels hanging on her wall. The white, wooden door...

That was slowly creeping shut. And she wanted to roll her eyes at God.

"Sensei," She tried to pull herself away from the sink she was leaning on, still feeling shaky on her own two feet. "Don't let the door–"

"Huh?" He looked over his shoulder.

The old, door knob clicked itself in place. "–shut." She dropped her head.

Asuma soaked a dark rag in water and held out his hand.

"Let me see it." She obliged and he grimaced when he saw the extent of it. "Damn, Ino. That's pretty deep." He remarked as he gently wiped away more of her blood.

"Owwww!" She whined. "Be careful, Asuma-sensei!" Her eyes watered up at the pressure being put on the jagged cut.

"Ino, I barely touched it." He pulled the rag back and gave her an exhausted look.

"But, it hurts."

"I imagine it does." He resumed cleaning her wound.

"But, what if I need stitches?"

"It's not that bad."

"But, you said it was deep."

"For a regular cut, it is."

"But, what if I bleed to death?"

"Ino..."

"What?" She stared at his face, anything other than her nasty looking hand. "It's always a possibility."

"I doubt it." Asuma rinsed out the rag, cleaned her hand one more time with soap and water and put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to sit on the decorated toilet seat. "Do have any first aid supplies in here?" He asked.

"Uh-huh. On the bottom shelf." She pointed with her good hand. He bent down and grabbed peroxide and some bandaging strips.

And Ino put her hand behind her back, knowing what was coming next.

"Nuh-uh!" She growled at him. "No way, it's just fine the way it is."

"Ino..." He sagged his shoulders as he knelt beside her on one knee.

"Nope." She shook her head like a child resisting medicine. "That stuff burns way too bad, it's not worth it. I'd rather get an infection and die."

"Ino..."

"Will you kiss it and make it better when you're done?"

"No...dammit, quit acting like a baby."

"I like acting like a baby." Okay, that was stupid reply, but she didn't want it to hurt anymore!

"Give me your hand, now." He looked aggravated and serious, seemingly conveying one message: if she told him no one more time with her blatant display of immaturity, then he'd be pissed.

"Meanie..." She mumbled as she gave in.

"Hold still." He ordered as he poured the bubbling liquid over her palm, fizzling as it killed the germs on the wound.

Ino squeezed her eyes shut and dug the nails of her uninjured hand into her knee as it stung her flesh.

When it was over, he had her cut well cleaned and professionally wrapped in white bandages.

"I'm really sorry about all this, sensei." She sighed as he washed the blood and peroxide off his hands.

"It's fine."

"I know it seems dumb, but I really do hate the sight of blood."

"Ino," He started, bringing up something from the past again in hopes of making her feel better. "Anybody who knows you well enough knows how you get around blood."

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head, watching his face in the mirror hanging over her sink.

He just shook his head and continued. "...you were probably too young at the time to remember, but one night a long time ago, your father and I were playing another round of cards at the house, as usual. Your mother was in the kitchen cooking something up for diner. And you were trying to help her by washing vegetables, standing on a stool with books stacked on it just to reach the sink." He dried his hands on a towel and turned back to her, leaning against the porcelain sink. "Your father made a joke, some comment about you trying to cut your own hair and your mother laughed so hard she cut herself with the knife in her hands. Not too different from the cut on your hand right now." He explained the memory, thinking back on it with a smile. "Well, you screamed and hollered and declared she was going to die on the spot if we didn't get her to the hospital. You thought sick people went there and magically came back a healthier person." He chuckled and shook his head. "Your mother tried to explain she was fine, but you freaked out and then passed out. Literally. Yamanaka carried you to the main room and placed you on the couch to sleep it off. I asked him if it was alright to leave you there and he said, 'Yeah, this happens all the time. It's normal for Ino.' We laughed, finished playing our card game, your mother aided herself and finished diner, and you woke up thirty minutes later, already having forgotten about the incident."

He was right, she didn't remember. But, she was glad he did, that he already knew what to expect.

"Well, thank you."

"Don't fret over it." He shrugged. "As long as your not feeling faint anymore then there's no real problem."

"I am feeling better." She smiled at him. "Still hungry, but better."

"Fine. Then, lets get out of here and go eat our stale food."

"Um, sensei..." She bit her lip. "There's _another_ problem."

"Problem?" He raised a brow.

"We can't leave the bathroom." She bit down harder on her lip.

"What?" He frowned. "Why not?"

"It's stuck." She pointed to the door. "The doorknob, it's jammed."

Asuma quickly walked to the door, wrapped his hand around the ancient, metal knob and tested it out. "Damn." He said as he jarred the door harder in a second and third attempt.

"I know. I was locked in here for three hours once."

He looked at her in disbelief. "How long has it been broken?"

"Since we moved in."

"And you haven't fixed it yet?" Now he was just in shock at the blatant disregard a female could have for the maintenance of a home. "And you guys just go to the bathroom and shower with the door open?"

Ino shrugged. "It doesn't really bother us. We're girls." He shook his head again.

"And how do we get out?" He asked, his hand still on the knob.

"We don't."

"Excuse me?"

"We have to wait until Sakura comes home. It can only be opened from the other side." She stated calmly. Much calmer than she had been earlier when she thought she was going to die.

"Where's your cell phone?" He asked when he remembered his was still in his jacket pocket...on the couch.

"Charging in my room, beside my bed."

She watched as Asuma turned back to the door, studying it up and down for a few minutes.

"I could break it down..."

"Don't you dare, Asuma Sarutobi!" She growled. "You do and I'll be charged hundreds for destruction of property by the landlord!"

She watched him again as he pressed his back against the door and slid to the floor, glancing at his watch, it was almost nine thirty. "What time did you say your roommate was supposed to be back?"

"Probably between two or three." And she heard him curse again. "You should just be glad Sakura is practically obsessive compulsive and keeps this bathroom meticulously clean."

He ran a hand down the front of his face at the luck he was having. Then glanced around the small, tiled room. The only window was beside the bath tub and was about a foot high and only six inches wide. Asuma cursed again and settled in for a long wait.

_Thirty minutes later..._

-_growl_-

Ino quickly placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. "Sorry." She shrugged. "I'm still hungry."

"Obviously."

"Well, I think I still have a secret stash hidden in here somewhere..." She mumbled as she stood and walked to the closet.

"A what?"

"A stash, a place I keep all my goodies." She examined the closet, looked to the top shelf and stood on her tip toes, searching for something in the back.

"You're going to fall and break your neck." He commented as she stepped onto the first shelf to reach further back in the closet.

"Stop being such a prude...besides, you'd catch me before I fell."

"Don't get your hopes up." He watched as she magically pulled a box of chocolates from the forgotten corner of her apartment.

"And, voila!" She smiled triumphantly and hoped down. "And then there was food!"

"Junk food." He corrected.

"But, it's _edible_. And that's all that matters." She sat down beside him, ripped the plastic seal of the box and shoved a small, round piece of candy into her mouth. Chocolate covered cherries. "Want one?" She asked with her mouth as full as a chipmunk and held out a piece to him.

He shook his head and declined. "No, thanks...I'll survive for the moment."

She rolled her shoulders and popped another one into her mouth, continuing to scarf down the sugar. No wonder Sakura called her Ino-pig.

When she swallowed, licked her lips and looked up at him with blue eyes full of glorified satisfaction in the taste, he tried to ignore the thick, red, cherry juice sliding down the corner of her mouth to her chin.

Think of something negative...negative...negative. "Those things will give you pimples." He frowned. Why did she have to look so cute?

"Oh well," She leaned back on the palm of her good hand. "It's better than starving to death." She licked her lips again, this time making sure to get the stray juice.

When a loud, booming sound started vibrating the walls of her bathroom and echoed into the room she growled low and mean. "Not _them_ again." Her jaw clenched in aggravation.

He looked at the wall where the noise seemed to be coming from and raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's Thirsty Thursday." She reminded him. "Damn parties, they always keep me awake all night. There should be a law against things like this."

"It's a college campus, it's to be expected."

"That doesn't make it any easier to deal with." She went over to the small window next to her tub and glanced out into the night. She could see the parking lot of her complex, barely lit up by lamps. Her cute little red sports car was close near the building and she could barely see Asuma's nicer, more expensive and conservative vehicle under a the broken bulb of a street light. But no Sakura, at least not until three, at the latest.

"Can I ask you something, sensei?" She replaced herself next to him, trying to ignore the loud music coming from her neighbors.

"Shoot for it." He rested his head against the door behind him, fighting off another strong craving for nicotine.

"Earlier...on the bridge..." She paused and fidgeted with the nail of her forefinger. "Did you plan on...I mean, were you going to kiss me?" Ino wanted to smack herself, she was blushing again.

"What?" He didn't sound nearly as shocked as she thought he would have been.

"It's just a question..."

"Ino, I'm a guy." He let out a deep breath. "Guys always think about those kinds of things."

"Even with me?"

He shrugged.

"So, you'd do it again? You'd still kiss me?"

"Ino, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?" She looked offended.

Dammit, he wished her roommate would just hurry up and come back.

"It's just not a great idea." He tried to sound agitated.

"Am I too ugly?"

"You know that's not the reason. Stop acting like a child."

"Then what's the problem? You already thought about it once, what's so wrong with it now?"

"It was never a good thought to begin with. And that's the point, it was just a _thought_. Not an action."

"How can you say that?"

"Because it's the truth."

"But–"

"Ino." He tried to silence her.

"Just once...please!"

"Ino, don't get yourself into a situation you can't handle."

"Sensei, I just want to see what it's like."

"No."

"Don't make me pounce on you."

"Dammit, it's _not_ going to happen."

"Please, I won't tell anyone."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"You know damn well."

"No, please refresh me."

"Ino, I've known you since you were a child...Ino...Ino what are you doing?"

"Experimenting." She slowly started crawling up to him, her heart beating faster by the second. A rush of adrenaline pulsing through her veins.

"This isn't funny." He pressed his back further into the door as she got closer.

"I know. But it sure is fun." She smiled at him.

He frowned and tried to stand, but she grabbed onto his sweater and pulled him back down. Even she was surprised at herself and the lively vixen that had popped her head out from the corners of her psyche.

"Please, sensei. Just one kiss." She leaned closer, nose to nose. "I'll do it myself if you won't." Her blue eyes pleaded with him. And she had to wonder why she was acting like a wanton. But they were alone, secluded from everything else and would be for hours to come. And he was cute, and sexy and someone she looked up to all her life.

"Ino, don't makmm..." His eyes widened as he tried to speak, only to have her press her mouth to his. His words coming out in a muffle against her lips.

Asuma furrowed his brows and grabbed onto her shoulders to pry her away from his face. "What the hell?" He glared at her. She always had been forceful when it came to getting what she wanted.

He watched as she blushed and licked her lips, slowly running her tongue over the flesh that had just touched his.

And the only thing she could think to say was, "I wanna try it again." She leaned forward, eager for a repeat and he resisted.

"I don't think so." He tried to ignore the sweet taste of her mouth that lingered on his lips.

But with his hands occupied trying to keep her at bay by her shoulders, he couldn't stop her from lifting a knee off the tile to straddle his hips.

All he could do was groan and allow her to finally scoot closer.

"Please, just one more time."

"You shouldn't sit there." He looked at her with intense eyes. He needed to shove her away, push her off his body. He would have been an idiot to let her have her way...

But any man would have been an idiot to try and push her away.

"Why?" She pouted out her lip. "Are you afraid you'd take advantage of me?" Then she gave him a wicked little look and he wanted to tell her she had no idea what she was doing.

"I think you should go back to your side of the bathroom."

"I think I should kiss you again and see if you can resist me this time." She moved in on him, leaning in eye to eye.

He sounded pained as he said, "Ino, don't–" But before he could finish, she kissed him again. And this time he simply didn't move. If he moved, then there was no telling what he might do to her.

Then she started massaging his lips with hers, trying to tempt him. Only causing him to clench his jaw in restraint. It wasn't until she let her tongue run along the outside of his bottom lip that he gave in.

He surprised her when he pulled her closer by the shoulders, one of his hands coming up to her jaw. Asuma opened his mouth and took her tempting tongue captive with his. And she gasped in surprise, amazed that her tactics had actually worked.

Asuma tilted her head and ordered her to widen for his entry. When she obliged, he devoured her like fine wine. She was sweet, the faint taste of her candy lingering in her mouth. And with one sweep of the tongue, he already felt her chest heaving against his. Her breath coming out like fast little pants on his flesh.

"I told you not to do that." He groaned into her mouth as he swallowed one of her throaty moans. His hand moved to her lower back, pulling her body even closer to his.

Ino whimpered as she felt his mouth leave hers, only to resume a trek down her neck. And as she linked her fingers together at his nape, she ran her tongue over her palate and savored the minty, smokey taste he left behind.

She felt his hand in her hair, pulling out the ribbon and running his fingers through the blonde locks. And she trembled when he began nibbling on the crook of her neck and shoulder.

Anything this fun and interesting and exciting had to be right. No matter what the implications.

"Asuma-sensei..." Her chin quivered when she felt the hand that was on her waist slide under the material of her shirt. He found her mouth again and worked his hand slowly up her side, tickling her sensitive flesh.

"Is this what you wanted," His voice was muffled and husky. "Is this how you want me to touch you?"

"_Ah_...yes..." She jumped and clenched her teeth together when his thumb brushed the bottom of her breast. A part of her body coming to life, throbbing out of control between her legs and aching to be touched.

His kiss deepened as his hand encompassed the soft mound of flesh. And she found she couldn't respond to his assault. Her chest was heaving and her breath was out of control with want.

"Sensei..." She closed her eyes as her urges became overwhelming. On half instinct and half impulse, Ino pressed her hips down into his and her head lolled back with the sweet bliss that followed.

Asuma instantly pulled back and released her breast. A look of deep concentration written on his face. "Ino, don't do that again...we should stop." She jerked her hips and did it anyways, gasping when the hardness she was pressing against grew harder.

"_Dammit..._" He mumbled as he put his hands on her hips, trying to slow his breathing. He doubted she could even hear his protest as she continued to try and find something she wasn't quite sure of.

"I think you should sto–" When he felt her thighs quiver as she came dangerously close to reaching a high point, he didn't stop himself as he pressed both hands under her shirt and pulled it off like he was a rabid, hungry animal.

She blushed at her sudden exposure. Only a few other females in her gym classes had seen her without a top. But she couldn't help wanting to kiss him as he watched with intense eyes when her nipples hardened under his inspection, his eyes full of dark intent.

Then he kissed her again, wild and hard. And she kissed back, her inexperienced mouth learning quickly.

She felt one of his hands on her back, the other on the button to her pink khaki's.

He would just show her what it was like...then that would be it. It would stop there. That's all he told himself he'd do...

"Ino, I just want you to relax..." His husky voice whispered in her ear as she waited in anticipation more than ready to take things to another level that he was trying to avoid.

It was only a few seconds before he had her pants unfastened and she couldn't help but feel like rushing things and hurrying through to get to her climax. "Just relax..." He reminded her as his hand slipped under her black panties.

"_Uhn_...sensei...!" She instantly cried out as his fingers finally touched her throbbing body. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she pressed into his hand, trying to soak in more of the touch.

"Shit..." He mumbled into her hair, trying to remain in control. "Ino, just calm down."

"I...I can't, sensei..." Her voice trembled as she was on the verge of tears from her frustration. "_Please_, sensei...just..." She pleaded, wishing he would stop holding back.

He tried to let her adjust to the feel of being touched by a man, but she would have none of it. Demanding to let her know what she was missing out on. So, slowly, gently, he pushed his center finger into her body. And she bit her lip, her head and body pulsating in time with the loud music still pounding from the walls next door.

Asuma had, once again, found himself surprised. There was a difference in _knowing_ what an untouched would feel like and actually _feeling_ that warm, wet, tightness around him. The part of him that felt like an old, perverted, dirty man told him to stop.

"Loosen up, Ino." He had to tell her again as she had trouble finding her breath. "You can't enjoy it if you're too tense to feel anything."

"Yes..." She mumbled and tried to obey.

He pulled out his finger and pressed it back in. And she immediately thrust back, her instinct for desire overriding all other senses.

She pressed her cheek to his in an attempt to calm herself only to have him lower his head to her chest. It didn't help when his mouth surrounded her soft pink nipple, playing tricks on her body that she was sure couldn't have been fair in her situation.

His hand on her back rested at the base of her spine, guiding her hips into the motion of his hand.

When his thumb pressed the slick, sensitive button that sent jolts through her body, his finger still deep inside her, and her hand instantly came down to wrap around his wrist.

Building...something was building up inside her. It was just in front of her...she needed it. Oh, she needed it now.

"Sensei...I...think...oh, god!" Her long, dull nails dug into his arm as the speed of his motions quickened. He knew, and he was helping her get there.

"Don't fight it..." His whisper sent waves of goose bumps over her skin. "Come for me,"

Just a little faster...and harder...and...he pressed his thumb to her pearl again.

Ino's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head as she squeezed them shut, everything become a hazy white as her lower body seemed to spasm uncontrollably. Barely registering his encouragements in her daze. Her back arched, pressing her breast further into his mouth. And she could feel he wasn't stopping, he was still manipulating her body. She bit down on her tongue, she didn't want to scream...but...

And she felt her release, sweet and mind boggling. Her walls pounding restlessly against his intruding finger.

Her body nearly becoming limp in his arms when it was done.

Asuma held her as she rested her cheek against his shoulder, trying to catch up with her breath.

"Asuma-sensei...can we...?" She suggested, more than ready to learn and experience more from the man.

"No, it's gone far enough." He clenched his jaw, trying to deny the fact he wanted to take her up on that offer.

"But," She sat up, her hair sticking to her damp face. Her bare chest rising up and down. "I want to." She looked down at his pants. "And I think you need to." Ino bit her lip as she stared at the object of her current infatuation. Her mind already conjuring up what it would be like.

Her look of intensity did not go unnoticed. And he had to wonder if he had any self-control left in his body.

"Lets just drop it where it stands, okay?" He tried to push her away, but she wouldn't budge.

And he cursed himself when he felt her fingers on the hem of his dark pants and didn't stop her. "Goddammit, your father is going to kill me." He tried convincing her by bringing some kind of implications into the matter, instead. But she blatantly ignored him.

She worked at the zipper with shaky hands, pushing back the material and pulling down his boxers. Freeing his erect member and giving him a hungry stare.

But, no. That was not enough. She wanted to see more.

So, suddenly more nervous than before with certain anatomy parts she had never viewed on a man before, Ino slipped her nimble fingers under his dark sweater and pulled it up. Unable to completely get it off him, Asuma finished the job and tossed the article of clothing to the side. Instantly, she wanted to touch and feel and caress every inch of his body. Hard and smooth in some places, rough and edged at others.

She buried her hands into his thick, chestnut hair and kissed him. Hungry and passionate. Burning with desire.

Asuma groaned and wanted to kill himself for what he was about to do. Trying not to think of the aftermath of his actions.

He kissed her back into submission, easing her onto the floor until her back was pressed against the cool tiles. He removed her pants and underwear, seducing her body with a easy kiss until he had her in the position he wanted her in, her long, smooth legs spread with him between them.

Her breasts were pressed flat against his chest as he lowered himself onto her, seeking out her lips and taking control of her tongue. She moaned with impatience and he couldn't help chuckling at her displays of desire.

"I want you to relax for me again." He said as he slipped a hand between them, finding her wet warmth with the tip of his member. And she lost her breath again at the simple contact.

The hell with relaxing. Ino was wild and reckless and had too much energy for her own good.

Asuma watched her reaction as he pressed first inch of his erection slid into her passage. She gasped and under the pressure of her inner walls, Asuma allowed himself to fully sink into her body. Then she cried out in something near to blissful agony when she finally accepted him, her inner self stretching to accommodate for the intrusion.

"I...I can't wait any longer." She whispered in awe as she moved her body around him experimentally.

He watched the light in her eyes haze over and pool with something that was purely erotic as he pulled back. She felt him, every inch and ridge of his member with that one action. Every ripple and bulge of his ridiculously well toned body.

She narrowed her lashes and squeezed his shoulder with her hand and told him to go faster.

He obliged, too drunk on her feel to complain about being bossed around. Then, without her request, he continued to quicken. Not taking time to settle for a slow pace. And from that point on, they could say no more words.

Quickened until the effect on her body was too powerful to fight against. Jerking her under the thrust of his hips.

One of his elbows propped him up as he rested half on his side. The other hand latched onto her thigh, trying to hold her body still from the effects of his gruff speed and hard, punctuated thrusts.

He watched as her pale, well rounded and large breasts bounced in time with his motions. Her soft body molding to his hard physique like water.

Ino's upper body writhed with the attentions of the man. Her eyes closed as her back arched, he hit a sensitive spot that she begged he found each time he reentered her passage. Her thigh slinked around his hips in an attempt to get closer than she already was to him, feeling the material of his pants that were only half way down his legs.

When she thought it wasn't going to get better, he took it up that one extra notch. Thrusting at an angle and purposely finding that secret spot each time now. Growing faster and even harder. His pelvic bone pressed against her pearl.

She didn't even have time to warn him as her body fell victim to lust. Her hands buried itself in her own hair as her back arched off the tile of the floor, Ino's thighs spasmed desperately around his waist. Trembling and shaking.

Ino cried out as tear came to her eye. "Sensei..." She uttered.

He let go and went wild on her body, drinking in the effects that her climax had on his body, her moans and whimpers and whines. She felt his hard body start to falter and tremble.

Quickly, he grabbed her from the back of her neck and pulled her into a fiery kiss. Aggressively biting and wrestling her to the very end as she put up a fight every inch of the way. Until she felt him pull out of her and his kiss stopped. Her lips still pressed to his, she felt his jaw clench, a long, husky breath escape his mouth as a deep, thick groan thundering in his chest.

Ino watched in fascination as his brows furrowed. She felt something warm on the outside of the juncture of her thighs and was grateful he'd thought to pull out when she hadn't.

Asuma opened his eyes as he caught his breath.

"I hope you're happy now." He shook his head as she smiled at him. Half ashamed with himself and half pleased.

"Of course I am." She wrapped her arms around his neck as the hand that was on her nape slid around her shoulders.

He let his head hang, sagging against her shoulder as he held her close. "Do you know how good you feel?" His deep voice played around the edge of her ear, praising her body.

"Enlighten me." She snuggled closer, inhaling his clean smell. Masculine and musky with a hint of cigarette smoke.

"I could fuck you a hundred times and never get tired of it..." He fell to his back onto the floor beside her, welcoming the effect of the cold tile on his burning flesh. Ino quickly found her way to his body. He ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he had a smoke. "Your father really is going to kill me." He shook his head again.

"Nobody needs to know." She propped herself onto one elbow, planted her chin in her hand and played with the beard on his jaw she now found completely sexy.

"I'd like to see just how long you can keep your mouth shut." He absent mindedly ran his hand up and down her smooth back. Feeling where her spine and shoulder blades protruded from her skin. Wondering how simply being locked in a bathroom turned to having sex.

"I can keep a secret!" She retorted.

"I give it two weeks before you tell Sakura."

She shrugged and lay her head on his chest. He had a point on that one.

"Maybe," She admitted. "But I give it twenty minutes before you roll over and make love to me again."

He remained silent. She had a point on that one...

_._

_._

_._

**I spent an ENTIRE Saturday, through Beverly Hills Cop one ****_and_**** two and Malibu's Most Wanted, writing this damn thing. It's thirty three pages long and my eyes were falling out of my face by the time I was done. So, I pray you like it...**


End file.
